inputtime：2024-11-01 12:00:00 From：Qilu Hospital
Recently, Professor Annika Östman Wernerson, President of Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, led a delegation to visit Qilu Hospital of Shandong University. The delegation was accompanied by Tina Karlberg, Science and Innovation Counselor of the Swedish Embassy in China. The visit was warmly received by Yi Fan, Standing Council Member of Council of Shandong University, Vice President of Shandong University, and Dean of Cheeloo Medical College; Chen Xin, Chairman of Council of Cheeloo Medical College and Chairman of Council of Qilu Hospital; and Ma Chunhong, Executive Vice Dean of Cheeloo Medical College. The delegation engaged in discussions and exchanges with the hosts. The meeting was chaired by Cheng Yufeng, Vice President of Qilu Hospital, and attended by representatives from relevant departments of Cheeloo Medical College and Qilu Hospital.
During the meeting, Chen Xin extended a warm welcome to the delegation from Karolinska Institutet and reviewed the fruitful and practical achievements made over the past 20 years of friendly cooperation between Qilu Hospital and Karolinska Institutet in scientific research, talent development, and personnel exchanges. He emphasized that Qilu Hospital has long regarded internationalization as an essential pathway to becoming a world-class institution, continuously expanding its diverse and high-quality network of international medical collaborations. Moving forward, the hospital is committed to deepening high-level cooperation and exchanges with global partners in the health sector, including Karolinska Institutet, to achieve complementary strengths and mutual progress, ultimately fostering more significant outcomes on the international stage of medical treatment, medical education, and medical research.
President Annika Östman Wernerson expressed that Qilu Hospital of Shandong University is one of Karolinska Institutet’s closest partners in China, with a solid foundation and broad prospects for collaboration. She noted that the two institutions will leverage various high-level research and scientific innovation platforms to design strategic cooperation plans more systematically and establish regular collaboration mechanisms across more fields and disciplines.
Professor Cheng Yufeng provided an overview of the hospital’s history and development, detailing the joint "Global Top Discipline Cooperation Program" and the postdoctoral exchange program. Professor Cheng highlighted that the cooperation between Qilu Hospital and Karolinska Institutet is built on a strong foundation, with a high starting point and promising prospects. He expressed confidence that the partnership will continue to deepen and expand steadily, benefiting both sides.
Alumni representative Dr. Zhang Ning shared her two-year postdoctoral experience at Karolinska Institutet. She recounted her work in Professor Crosetto’s laboratory, where she developed novel genomic technologies, and expressed her heartfelt gratitude for the resources and opportunities provided by Karolinska Institutet. As a beneficiary of the collaboration, Dr. Zhang expressed her hope to contribute to further exchanges between the two institutions.
During the meeting, both sides engaged in detailed discussions on future cooperation plans.
Following the meeting, the delegation visited the Department of Emergency Medicine and the Department of Gastroenterology of Qilu Hospital to gain a deeper understanding of the hospital’s leading disciplines and platform operations.
Karolinska Institutet is one of the world’s top medical universities, often referred to as the "Cradle of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine." Qilu Hospital established a friendly partnership with Karolinska Institutet in 2003. In 2014, the Shandong University Cardiovascular Genomic Medicine Innovation Base, involving personnel from both institutions, was approved under the Chinese Ministry of Education’s Program for Introducing Talents of Discipline to Universities. At the end of 2022, the joint project on "Metabolism and Immunity in Critical Illness" led by both institutions received Class A funding under Shandong University’s Top Discipline Cooperation Program. In 2024, the joint postdoctoral exchange program between the two institutions was officially launched.
